CD of the Week: Colin Hay

COLIN HAY
ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT ME?
(Lazy Eye, 2007)

The number of musicians who have stayed as consistently good for as long as Colin Hay has can probably be counted without taking off your shoes. Twenty-two years and nine solo albums after the official breakup of his most popular band, the former Men At Work frontman is still at the top of his game, churning out his now trademark brand of witty, quirky singer-songwriter folk-pop. Where else but on a Colin Hay album can I hear a trombone and a kazoo side-by-side?

There are a couple of less-than-impressive tracks in this collection (the title track and "What Would Bob Do?" leave me a bit cold), but they're far outweighed by the excellent. And the range of moods keeps the album interesting: from the tender dirge "Up In Smoke" and the wistful quasi-gospel of "Pure Love", through the coyly playful "Me And My Imaginary Friend", to the jaunty "Land Of The Midnight Sun" and the New Orleans-flavored romp "Lose To Win".

Plenty of other artists are more prolific, but Colin Hay's sparse output only means a leaner, more well-crafted repertoire. He has beaten the odds and managed to forge a long and relatively prosperous career without the so-called "help" of a major-label contract. I may have to wait a bit longer between his albums than I do most other artists ... but when they're this good, I know the wait is worth it.